Think you've got a handle on the low hanging fruit in retail & manufacturing applications?
Join the UofT Robotics community on November 8th for a one-day virtual symposium with members from across Canada’s automation ecosystem, from manufacturing to e-commerce.
In this highly-focused, single-track workshop, you'll discover the cutting edge of AI robotics, discuss common challenges, and strategize with researchers and industry partners as we close the gap between shop floor reality and practical robot and data platforms in retail and manufacturing applications.
Keynotes
To remain globally competitive, manufacturing and retail must be systemically robust -- both online and instore.
However this level of integration requires a multifunctional technology stack that is capable of everything from machine tending, kitting, receiving, sorting, storage and retrieval, packaging, inventory and store management, and last mile delivery.
Our keynote speakers will explore what it takes to develop and deploy integrated robotic systems in real world retail and manufacturing environments.
Matt Mason
Chief Scientist at Berkshire Grey
Keynote 1 @10:05: Robotics, E-commerce, and Warehouse Automation at Berkshire Grey
This talk tells the Berkshire Grey story, from its founding in 2013 to its IPO earlier this year — the first robotics IPO since iRobot over 15 years ago. Berkshire Grey produces automated systems for e-commerce order fulfillment, parcel sortation, store replenishment, and related operations in warehouses, distribution centers, and in the back ends of stores. The talk will discuss the commercial opportunity, the technology and solutions developed by Berkshire Grey, and discuss the challenges of warehouse automation.
Pieter Abbeel
Director of Berkeley Robot Learning Lab
Keynote 2 @2:30: A New Generation of Robots, Powered by AI
Industrial robots have been around for decades. But traditional automation relies on pre-programmed motions, limiting its applicability. I will describe some of the recent advances in AI that have the potential to enable the next generation of robotics, where robots learn to react to the environment and situation they are in. Specifically, I will describe some of the salient advances in computer vision, self-supervised learning and reinforcement learning that could bring about a revolution to the applicability of robotics across many industries, including logistics, e-commerce fulfillment, recycling, agriculture, construction, and ultimately service industries and home robots. I will also take a deeper dive into the latest advances in AI Robotics in logistics and fulfillment, which we are pioneering at Covariant.
Faculty Talks
The confluence of deep learning, computer vision and robot learning is accelerating progress in robot manipulation, bringing applications such as object handling and service robotics within close reach.
Our faculty will share the latest research and technical insights that are pushing the envelope on what can be achieved in practical robot and data platforms.
Panel Discussions
Demand is growing for robots that can learn to perform increasingly complex tasks alongside human workers and customers in hybrid environments. Yet several key technical and socio-economic challenges remain unsolved.
Join us as we discuss common challenges and strategize with researchers and industry partners on how to close the gap between shop floor reality and practical robot and data platforms in retail and manufacturing applications.
Opportunities & Challenges in Industrial Applications
Translational Technology & Benchmarks - How Can Industry Partner With Academia?
The Ocado Best Poster Award
Network with UofT's top graduate scholars in robotics in our graduate showcase and poster session.
Graduate researchers with expertise in robotics for retail and manufacturing applications will give lightening talks on their latest published research, and will be available for networking during our 45-minute lunch time poster session.
Interested students should reach out to Joan DaCosta for more information on how to register for the showcase.
Winners
1st: Michael Pham-Hung
A Robot Architecture Using ContextSLAM to Find Products in Unknown Crowded Retail Environments
2nd: Dylan Turpin
GIFT: Generalizable Interaction-aware Functional Tool Affordances without Labels
3rd: Cody Reading
Categorical Depth Distribution Network for Monocular 3D Object Detection
Presenters
Trevor Ablett
Learning from Guided Play: A Scheduled Hierarchical Approach for Improving Exploration in Adversarial Imitation Learning
Yun-Chun Chen
Neural Shape Mating: Self-Supervised Object Assembly with Adversarial Shape Priors
Xintong Du
Aaron Hao Tan
Deep Reinforcement Learning for Decentralized Multi-Robot Exploration with Macro Actions
Adam Heins
Mohamed Khodeir
Learning to Search in Task and Motion Planning with Streams
Michael Pham-Hung
A Robot Architecture Using ContextSLAM to Find Products in Unknown Crowded Retail Environments
Cody Reading
Categorical Depth Distribution Network for Monocular 3D Object Detection
Dylan Turpin
GIFT: Generalizable Interaction-aware Functional Tool Affordances without Labels
Helen Wang
Seeing Glass: Joint Point Cloud and Depth Completion for Transparent Objects
Haoyu Xiong
Learning by Watching: Physical Imitation of Manipulation Skills from Human Videos
Abhishek Goudar & Wenda Zhao
Ultrawideband-aided Indoor Localization: System Design and Calibration
Sponsorship
Poster Session & Student Awards Headline Sponsorship
Ocado Technology are pioneers solving some of the toughest technological challenges of our age using cutting-edge AI, ML, Robotics and beyond. The Ocado Smart Platform (OSP) is an end-to-end ecommerce, fulfilment, and logistics platform that powers smart online grocery businesses. This technology is changing the way the world shops.
Partner Spotlight
NVIDIA’s invention of the GPU sparked the growth of the PC gaming market and has redefined AI, computer graphics, high-performance computing, and more for trillion-dollar industries such as transportation, healthcare, and manufacturing.
Promotional Partner Sponsorship
Epson Robots is a global leader in PC-controlled precision factory automation. Building on a four-decade heritage, Epson Robots delivers solutions for precision assembly and material handling applications in the aerospace, appliance, automotive, biotechnology, consumer product, electronics, food processing, medical device, pharmaceutical, plastics, semiconductor, and telecommunication industries.
We have a variety of sponsorship opportunities designed to help you with your promotional, recruiting and partner development needs. Email Joan DaCosta (joan.dacosta [at] utoronto.ca) for more info on how to put your sponorship dollars to work.
Program Schedule
| Monday November 8, 2021 | |
|---|---|
| 9:50 - 10:00 | Opening Remarks: Animesh Garg |
| 10:00 - 10:15 | Faculty Talk: Igor Gilitschenski |
| 10:15 - 10:30 | Faculty Talk: Angela Schoellig |
| 10:30 - 10:45 | Industry Spotlight: Alex Harvey, Chief of Advanced Technology, Ocado Technolgy |
| 10:45 - 11:00 | Faculty Talk: Jonathan Kelly |
| 11:00 - 12:00 | Keynote: Matt Mason, Berkshire Grey |
| 12:00 - 13:00 | Panel 1: Opportunities & Challenges in Industrial Applications |
| 13:00 - 13:30 | Graduate Poster Competition Presentations |
| 13:30 - 14:00 | Lunch |
| 14:00 - 14:15 | Faculty Talk: Goldie Nejat & Hani Naguib |
| 14:15 - 14:30 | Industry Spotlight: Sandra Skaff, Robotics Ecosystem Lead, NVIDIA |
| 14:30 - 14:45 | Faculty Talk: Animesh Garg |
| 14:45 - 15:00 | Faculty Talk: Steve Waslander |
| 15:00 - 16:00 | Keynote: Pieter Abbeel, UC Berkeley |
| 16:00 - 17:00 | Panel 2: Translational Technology & Benchmarks - How Can Industry Partner With Academia? |
| 17:00 - 17:10 | Awards Announcement & Closing Remarks |
| 17:10 - 18:00 | Social Hour |
Ready to resgister? Hurry before tickets run out.
Registration via Eventbrite.